Chemical sensors are widely used in industrial environments for process control, environmental control, and other applications. A chemical sensor is a device which monitors the concentration of a given chemical species in a liquid or a gas. Chemical sensor are often required to be highly sensitive, in order to detect small concentrations of the chemical. They are also often required to withstand harsh chemical environments and/or high temperatures which may be present in process control, environmental control or other applications. For example, carbon dioxide sensors have been used in normal ambient, as well as in harsh environment conditions (e.g., high radiation levels, high corrosion rates, high humidity levels, and high temperatures). Chemical sensors employing wide band gap semiconducting materials, such as silicon carbide, gallium nitride, synthetic diamond, are prone to withstand harsh environment conditions.